Not Gesture, and Not English on the Hands
Signed languages are natural languages, not pantomime or codes.
Signs decompose into contrastive, meaningless parameters:
| Parameter | What varies |
|---|---|
| Handshape | Finger configuration |
| Location | Position on or near the body |
| Movement | Path and manner of the hand |
| Orientation | Direction the palm faces |
| Non-manual markers | Facial expression, head, and body posture |
Two signs differing in only one parameter form a minimal pair. This shows duality of patterning in a visual medium.
Non-manual markers are grammar, not emotional colour. A raised brow can mark a question just as word order does in English.
Key Properties
- Signed languages are not universal. American Sign Language and British Sign Language are mutually unintelligible.
- They are not manual encodings of spoken speech. American Sign Language does not use English syntax.
- Children acquiring sign reach the same milestones on the same timetable as spoken language learners.
The Natural Experiment
Nicaraguan Sign Language shows how grammar emerges. Before 1977, deaf Nicaraguans were largely isolated from each other.
When schools brought them together, the initial pidgin was transformed. It was the younger cohort who regularised the system into a full language.
Common pitfall: treating signs as transparent pantomime. While some signs are iconic, non-signers cannot reliably guess their meanings.